CompuServe Messages

Regarding your pricing question: There are two distinct parts to a project, the modeling and the animation. I always break these down as follows: I charge a per day rate for the modeling, plus a separate per second rate for the animation. This covers you nicely; in case they decide to cut the costs by cutting down the number of seconds of animation, you are still covered for the modeling time. I would price your project like this: Base fee for modeling: How many days to make the model * how much money you like to make per day Animation: How long the animation is in seconds * a per second rate The per second rate is determined by how long it will take to render it, how long it is (the rate goes down for longer animations), your client's budget, and how much you want this job. <g> This is a long, simple animation, you are a small company with a small overhead and probably not a terribly generous client. I'd charge anywhere from $20-$200/second depending on what the client can afford and how hard you plan to work. Others on the forum with very professional setups may scoff at this low-end pricing but I say pah! to them. Sample pricing: say it will take 3 days to make the model, and your company likes to make $800 per day, so that's $2400 for modeling. 4 minutes of animation = 240 seconds * $50/second = $12,000. Total price = $14,400. This, of course, is a vague estimate. My prices vary widely depending on my mood and my financial status. <g> The only hard-and-fast rule is to separate the price of modeling from the price of animation in the quote to protect yourself.